I've been meaning to ask about this for a while, so this seems like a good time. Have you read, or can recommend, any non-marvel, non-dc comic series? I love your show, but my knowledge of these are mainly limited to the films and tv series there have been over the years.

I grew up reading 2000AD, and love things like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan. I understand that Marvel/DC are the huge comic titans, but it would be nice to hear about some of the others now and again. The ones that don't require 50 years of backstory.

The beginning of all wisdom Bob is the simple phrase "I do not know". Once that has been admitted, all learning can then begin.

As for Power Rangers and Manga; unless you live in Japan and/or are a Mangaka, aka, Manga Author, you could spend YEARS studying and not learn everything. However, you have shown time and again a working knowledge that Mangaka have an unhealthy obsession with the perfection of the female form.

Also I want to point out that just the people asking you to do a show on probably want you to do it because they know that you mentioning something will get some new people to look into it a thus hopefully get it some new fans.

EDIT: And since of course now we have to come up with new topics to try pester Bob with. I request and episode (or three) on Golden age science fiction and the effect that Campbell rules and the British and American New Wave had on the genre.

As an American Whovian since the early 90s, I never thought I would see the day when another American talks about everyone he knows/works with being huge fans of the series. For so many years finding anything Who-related in this country was like buried treasure (especially an arcade with the magnificent Doctor Who pinball machine), most fan-time was spent explaining just what it was, and finding another fan was like sharing a secret handshake with a hidden underground movement.

This isn't meant in a whiny hipster sense; although I prefer the old series to the new, I'm glad to see it alive again and very happy to see it's got so many fans. Its mass appeal is definitely a good thing.

Nicely done. I like how well you construct your points and cite sources.

Warning, topic request: My Little Pony. I know, number II, but hear me out: Derpy Hooves. A lot of bronies have gotten upset about the change to her voice in the iTunes purchase version of the episode "The Last Roundup." Personally, I'm not happy about that either, but that's because the audio quality of the redub is so poor that I thought it was fake at first. The animation is still the same and a change in voicing doesn't change her adorable clumsiness. As far as I can tell, the redub only happened so they could remove mention of the name "Derpy".

In any event, many bronies are screaming about this on the internet, thinking it's the end of our favorite cross-eyed pony and villainizing Hasbro. It flies in the face of the anti-trolling slogan "Love and Tolerance." Do you have any thoughts? I know you may not know enough about MLP specifically, as it is a current TV show, but perhaps this reminds you of a similar character change in another tv show/comic book/movie series that had a similar butt-hurt reaction from the fanbase?

I recently saw a Facebook survey that asked the question: 'Is it ever ok to show anti-gay material to kids in schools?'

Now, on the list of answers were plenty of reasonable things like 'Just as we are taught any history of bigotry', 'If it's done in a balanced and educational way', and 'so long as the content isn't being promoted'. However the vast, vast, majority who took the survey answered 'No. It is never ok to display anti-gay material.'

I do not understand this. As a part of learning about culture and History in schools kids are already exposed to anti-black, anti-Semitic, and anti-women material all the time, and yet when it comes to homophobia people are like "Nope, our kids shouldn't even know this exists."

If it would be possible, could you do an episode based on this. Why is homophobia apparently considered worse than racism, sexism and the like? Is it perhaps because the debate around gay rights is a younger one, so we are still more taboo about it than we are with race and gender? This could branch out into why does humanity even insist on 'ranking' prejudices as more or less acceptable than one-another when most of us agree they're all bad? Can a kid really understand the concept of gay rights if he has never learned about prejudice against gays? Whether you agree with political correctness as staple in our society or not, can we afford to let squeamishness get in the way of teaching our kids about the world?

For good & in-depth Doctor Who commentary, Google SF Debris. He *is* pretty much an expert on the subject, and a very well-spoken and balanced opinionated viewer. Great commentary on Star Trek, as well.

Deathlyphil:I've been meaning to ask about this for a while, so this seems like a good time. Have you read, or can recommend, any non-marvel, non-dc comic series? I love your show, but my knowledge of these are mainly limited to the films and tv series there have been over the years.

I grew up reading 2000AD, and love things like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan. I understand that Marvel/DC are the huge comic titans, but it would be nice to hear about some of the others now and again. The ones that don't require 50 years of backstory.

Hey, this guy is right! Big Picture about non-superhero comics would be neat.If Bob is willing to tell his thoughts on Preacher or any other comic book that I read/did not read and it is not superhero one, then I am willing to listen.

And with my fine-tuned sense of being a pain in the ass, this looks like the perfect thread for us to all post what we'd like him to do shows on. Doubly so if we don't think he can do it.

So, starting with some that he might do:

The impact of coin-op video games on culture - including gambling/video pokerHow sequels and reboots mimic ancient retelling of myths (like the Arthurian tales)* Benefits of sequils to the industry/fan base (Does it really hurt?)* Benefits of new IP to the industry/fan base (does it really matter?)Thoughts on Netflix producing Lilyhammer and You Tube ChannelsImpact of ubiquitous cameras on daily media consumption - are we devolving to shaky-cam crap because everyone can record on their phones?

I guess I find it strange that one of the five groups is the entire medium of music seeing as how much is covered under that umbrella.

visual mediumwritten mediumsound medium

Really?

I'm sure there is a subset in there somewhere you have an opinion on. I'm not forcing, I'm just saying I figured at some point some band or some movement or something might make it on to the show. Again, not pushing, just surprised that one of the major mediums doesn't make it on.

I can only imagine how many peple have a genuine interest in some of these subjects Bob doesnt know about and ask him to do, and how many just want him to do it so they can hop on the comments section and rip him a new one.

...

plus i dont know if he'd ever really do a manga one, just cause outside of a few (such as DBZ and its ilk that have inspired the anime shows people look on with nostalgia) itd most likely be an episode made into troll bait and flamewars by people here.

I know the feeling, Bob. I do a webcomic based off the story of a rather niche JRPG and because of which, people tend to assume that I play other JRPGs, and by playing JRPGs that apparently also means I watch anime. But I don't really do either of these things.

I had gotten a lot of e-mails from people asking me to make a comic in public support of Project Rainfall, but I'd never even heard of it, and even when I looked into it, it wasn't something that I was invested enough in to promote awareness of.

If anyone wants to know anything about what it's like to create and get a manga published then read Bakuman, it's the story of two young men with the dream of becoming successful Manga Authors in Jump. It offers so much insight that many authors were surprised that Jump even allowed it to be published.

It is a running manga and it's a bit over dramatized in some areas but it offers a lot of insight on the behind the scenes at jump. It's by the same two guy team who did Death Note and the anime adaptation is in its second season. If you want more history of manga then Wikipedia is your friend.

daxterx2005:A Show about things that you aren't going to make a show about.Awesome :)

Also Bob, Do you have Mario Kart 7? If so what do you think about it?

-edit-For the record, I think Linkara may have abandoned the project. Not saying you should pick it up. Just saying I think he might be done.

It wasn't abandoned. He already said that he is past the point at which he watched power rangers in their original run so the newer series will take longer for him to write since he needs to watch the whole thing and take notes, figure out the main themes, character development, write out everything, watch it again and see if his opinions still feel true. Unless he has recently said he was done with the project.